Dover councilor suggests cutting CIP funding for streets, sidewalks

DOVER — City councilors met in a workshop session Wednesday evening to discuss the Capital Improvements Program, before they vote on various resolutions concerning the CIP next week.

The biggest discussion in the plan was the $1.8 million project to improve streets and sidewalks.

Councilor Michael Weeden suggested bringing this project cost down to $1 million and City Manager Michael Joyal said that seemed realistic.

“I do think it is important to have at least some amount of money going into the roads,” Weeden said, adding that $1.8 million just seemed too high and not attainable.

Councilor William Garrison asked why they should change the program now.

“To me, I don’t think we should be trying to fudge numbers here,” he said.

Councilor Dorothea Hooper, who said she agreed with Garrison, reiterated that the CIP is a plan, simply part of the city’s planning process.

“We’ll do the slashing and burning when it comes to the budget,” she said, not agreeing that now was the time to discuss the costs and affordability of projects, but to just recognize what the city needs. “We only can do what we can pay for.”

“Of course I want lush gardens ... and a brand new high school and a brand new police facility and more firefighters and more police,” Weeden said, but said that without being realistic now, the CIP “is a worthless document.”

“If we are not being realistic as to what we can fund going into the budget process, essentially, what are we talking about?” Weeden asked. “It is unrealistic to consistently put in items that we know we can’t fund.”

Councilor Catherine Cheney suggested the council figures out a way to have a “dynamic spreadsheet” with a graph that can be brought up on the projector in Council Chambers, where they can tweak numbers to figure out how to reach their target costs.

After some other discussions regarding the wastewater treatment plant and the fire pumper used at the Fire Department that needs to be replaced, Joyal asked the council if there were any projects in the CIP that they felt they did not see the city taking on within the next six years.

“Since I’m not hearing major adjustments,” he went on, adding how the voting process will go next week. “There is no commitment, but it is a plan.”

On Dec. 12, at 7 p.m., in Council Chambers in City Hall, the council will vote on the CIP plan layout, the authorization and appropriation of funds, non-debt financing, existing funds, and a series of capital reserve funds.

“Without hearing any major changes for any of the projects, we will just leave the resolutions as they are in the agenda,” Joyal said, asking that if any councilors had suggestions that they come forward within the next week.